Ron Johnson must have forgotten what "Constituent Services" is! Wisconsin's Junior Senator is responding to citizens of Wisconsin who ask for more information on the Affordable Care Act, the national health reform law, with information that would make tabloid writers blush! We have taken it upon ourselves to correct what he wrote, here's the letter! Then be sure to sign the petition for Johnson to campaign on his own time, not mislead the public!

Dear Constituent,

Thank you for your letter regarding healthcare reform and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). 

Although it's far from perfect, I truly do believe we have the finest healthcare system in the world.  [We're ranked 37th]  We need to preserve what works in our system and work to improve what does not.  Unfortunately, the new healthcare law does neither [the 32 million people who will now access insurance who couldn't before would disagree].  It is designed to lead to a government takeover of our entire healthcare system [Untrue, The Affordable Care Act helps you get PRIVATE insurance?]

I have no faith that the government has any capability of doing that effectively or efficiently [except for Medicare, Medicaid, the Veterans Administration, oh and the healthcare that he gets as a member of Congress...] .  If this law is fully implemented, it will result in rationing [that already happens because of costs], lower the quality of care, and dramatically decrease medical innovation.  That is the inevitable result of government run, socialized medicine [There's no government run option, it's private plans your purchasing at a public transparent Competitive Health Marketplace that ensures no discrimination and gives you a  tax credit to afford insurance].

Unfortunately, the damage to the quality of our healthcare is only half the problem.   This law will also lead to trillions of dollars of deficit spending over the next two decades [this law is 100% paid for and will actually reduce the deficit] because the cost of this new entitlement has been significantly underestimated [so there's no proof, he just "feels" its understated?].  We simply can't afford it [We can't afford not to].  We are already facing a debt crisis in this nation caused by out of control government spending [in large part because of the rising costs of healthcare] and the growth of entitlement programs that are not financially sound [So will he give up his government run healthcare?].  It will be difficult enough to fix current programs without adding an entirely new entitlement [Do you mean "entitled" to not be denied because of preexisting conditions? "Entitled" to insurance companies actually competing for you and reducing costs?]

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should be repealed so we can start over and address the real problems of our healthcare system [Where's your "better" plan then?].  We should start with medical malpractice reform [This actually wouldn't affect Wisconsin in any real fashion] that would save hundreds of billions of dollars in unnecessary tests and junk lawsuits [This is made up numbers and not supported by any facts...]

We should return healthcare to the free market [the Affordable Care Act increases competition, he wants insurance companies in control] to lower costs and improve quality and customer service.  Allowing individuals to purchase insurance across state lines [a race to the bottom in protecting patient. It does nothing to address preexisting conditions], reducing mandates that drive up the cost of insurance [such as requiring them to pay for prevention to keep you healthy?], encouraging the growth of Health Savings Accounts [The 36 countries that have better healthcare than the US do not focus on HSA's], equalizing the tax treatment of individual versus employer purchased care, improving medical information systems [the Affordable Care Act is doing that now, repeal would be a step backward], and fostering patient centered care should be the type of solutions we pursue [again, the Affordable Care Act does this, repeal would stop it in its tracks]

We need these kind of commonsense reforms that address cost and affordability [like ending preexisting condition discrimination? Your plan doesn't include this] without sacrificing the high-quality care for all Americans or stifling the innovation that saves lives [45,000 people die each year because they can't access insurance; how does your plan save them like the Affordable Care Act would?].

-Senator Ron Johnson